Unlike the rough parity between Soviet and U.S. forces in the Cold War, China, India, and Pakistan are at disparate levels in terms of conventional, space, cyber, and nuclear capabilities.
U.S. determines Russian noncompliant with New START due to ongoing on-site inspections suspension and refusal to reschedule a required treaty meeting. Pentagon estimates Chinese nuclear arsenal climbs above 400.
A senior U.S. defense official described China’s effort to modernize, expand, and diversify its nuclear arsenal as rapid and substantial.
The United States and Russia agree to language supporting arms control talks on a successor to New START at the 10th review conference for the NPT. Moscow temporarily pauses New START on-site inspections. Washington sees no possibility of imminent Russian nuclear use.
Beijing unleashed a complex set of maneuvers in the air and sea around Taiwan.
NATO approved a new strategic concept, announced plans to boost its military force, and began accepting
two new members as it pushed back against Russia and China.
At this time of heightened nuclear danger, responsible NPT states must act with urgency to reinforce norms against nuclear weapons, push back against Russia’s nuclear bullying, and strengthen their commitment to reverse the arms race, avoid nuclear war, and eliminate nuclear weapons.
The forum was mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote “responsible behaviors” in space.
The recent brandishing of nuclear threats evokes the early days of the Cold War when such threats were the modus operandi of superpower conduct.
On Jan. 3, the leaders of the five nuclear-armed members of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) issued a rare joint statement on preventing nuclear war in which they affirmed, for the first time, the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev maxim that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
Saudi Arabia is building ballistic missiles, according to CNN.
The hypersonic glide vehicle that China allegedly tested in July included the release of an unspecified projectile, the Financial Times reported.
Last month, the UN First Committee, responsible for international security, approved a compromise resolution that sets into motion a new open-ended working group to develop rules of the road for military activities in space.
Editors James M. Smith and Paul J. Bolt have produced an insightful book that enriches the public debate with a holistic and systematic examination of China’s nuclear strategy.
China is accelerating its development of strategic nuclear warheads, more than doubling last year’s estimate, according to the U.S. Defense Department’s 2021 China military power report.